


The Arch of Destiny

by inanoldhouseinparis



Category: The Witcher (TV)
Genre: (no death in this fic though I'm just quoting), Angst and Fluff, Death and destiny, Found Family, Gen, Heartbreak and heroics, M/M, Post mountain scenes, What motivates them?, kinda a character study?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:14:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28815453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inanoldhouseinparis/pseuds/inanoldhouseinparis
Summary: High up a mountain, near a rocky trail next to snow that never melts, lives the Guardian of the Arch of Destiny, waiting to guide travelers to Melitele's blessing
Relationships: Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon & Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion, Jaskier | Dandelion & Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Comments: 12
Kudos: 51
Collections: The Witcher Quick Fic #04





	The Arch of Destiny

High up a mountain, near a rocky trail next to snow that never melts, lives the Guardian of the Arch of Destiny, waiting to guide travelers to Melitele's blessing

\----

Geralt had been contracted to kill a wyvern in the mountains. Jaskier and Yennefer traveled with him over the rocky terrain, higher and higher until they started spotting patches of unmelted snow

"It's freezing up here," Jaskier griped. "I'm not wearing boots made for snow."

"You're welcome to turn back," Yennefer commented calmly. They both knew he wouldn't and even if he tried he wouldn't make it. They were three days up the mountain and Jaskier didn't have the survival skills or equipment if he had set back alone.

"We're closer to the end of the path going forward than going back," Geralt commented. “You might as well stay with us."

If there was ever a time Jaskier would walk away from Geralt, it would not be after Geralt had invited him to stay. He trudged along behind them until he noticed Geralt tense, like he had noticed something they hadn’t. Curious, Jaskier began looking around until he noticed a man, standing next to an arch of stone.

“Hello!” Jaskier called, ignoring the way Geralt hissed at him for drawing attention to them before he could assess the threat.

“Greetings, travelers,” the man called back. “I’ve been expecting you."

Geralt tensed at that and flexed his hands, but waited before reaching for his sword. As they approached the man, Geralt felt his medallion begin to quiver in response to the magic in the air.

“Oh,” said Yennefer in surprise, “you’re the Guardian of the Arch of Destiny."

“Yes, Yennefer, I am. Welcome, sister.” The man, a mage assigned to guard the Arch of Destiny and greet those who passed through it, gave a sweeping bow. “And welcome to you as well, Geralt of Rivia and Jaskier the Bard. You have been blessed to be allowed to find the Arch of Destiny. Melitele only allows a select few to be led here and she has chosen you."

“What exactly is the Arch of Destiny?” Jaskier asked, peering at what looked for all intents and purposes to be a naturally occurring hole in the rock formation, but enough for any person to walk through.

“A blessing to those who find it,” the mage answered. “Those who pass through will have the deepest desire of their heart granted. A warning, though. Those who choose to pass through and accept the blessing always find that the deepest desire of your heart is not what they think."

“I know what my heart desires most and I choose to accept this blessing from Melitele,” Yennefer said, before striding through the arch. _A babe_ , she thought. _I want a child, born from the womb that was taken from me"_

Geralt felt the medallion on his chest quiver as she passed under the arch. The mage turned to him. “Well, witcher? Will you choose to accept the blessing as well? Surely a man who would seek out a djinn would accept this freely given blessing."

Geralt didn’t ask how he knew that. Mages had the ability to read minds, and this mage already knew their names and stories when they arrived so it was possible he had the gift of prophecy. He was right, though. Geralt would accept this blessing if it meant the chance to rid himself of this binding to his child surprise. Squaring his shoulders, he walked through the arch.

Once he was through, his medallion shaking even more vigorously for him than it did for Yennefer, he turned and looked back at Jaskier. Surely Jaskier would walk through without hesitation. He never denied himself what he wanted, and a blessing from Melitele was not something he would soon turn down.

To his surprise, Jaskier was standing staring at the Arch thoughtfully, an almost pained expression on his face. He turned to the mage. “I think I’d rather go around."

“You would turn down the blessing of Melitele?” The mage asked, unsurprised as if he had been expecting this

“There is only one thing I want most and it wouldn’t be fair to ask."

Jaskier had no doubt what the one thing he wanted most was: Geralt to return his affections. He would never ask Melitele for that. Geralt had had no choice in becoming a Witcher. He was bound to a child against his will, and had by accident tied his fate with Yennefer’s. Jaskier would never force Geralt to love him, would never coerce him into returning that which was freely given.

“You cannot go around,” the mage told him. “You may go through or you may turn back. But what you fear will not come to pass. It is a gate of blessing. Melitele does not take away choice to grant a blessing, she only arranges the outcome. Make your decision, Bard, but know that you will not get this choice again."

Jaskier looked at Geralt and Yennefer waiting for him on the other side of the arch and made his choice. “I will accept Melitle’s blessing."

When Jaskier walked through the gate, Geralt felt his medallion rumble fiercely and Yennefer gasped as she felt a huge surge of magic. Jaskier, unable to sense magic as intensely as the other two, still felt a shimmer almost like a tingle on his skin, only for a moment, then gone.

“Take Melitele’s blessing and go in peace.” The mage bowed again and turned away.

As Geralt and Jaskier left, Yennefer whispered a small incantation, then turned to follow.

Geralt killed the wyvern easily and when they passed back through the same path, they never came across the Arch or the mage that guarded it. When they returned to the court that had commissioned Geralt, tensions were high between the three of them. After Geralt was paid, Curt words were exchanged, and Yennefer portaled away

 _It's for the best_ , she thought. Geralt was sterile, so even if she regained her fertility, Geralt could never give her what she wanted.

 _It's for the best_ , Jaskier thought. With Yennefer gone, there was a chance that Geralt would begin to open his heart to him.

 _It's for the best_ , Geralt thought. One less person, bound to him, taking away both his and her choice.

\---

At the bottom of the mountain, two days after the dragon hunt, Yennefer walked out of her room at the inn to discover a bard drinking by himself in the tavern. The misery radiating off of him was so strong that she probably would have felt it even if she hadn’t been a mage. She ordered a pitcher of ale and took a seat next to him, pouring him a refill in his tankard as she did

“Jaskier."

“Yennefer."

“So. He cast you away, too."

Something in the bard seemed to break and he crumpled onto the table. For all she didn’t care for him, she hadn’t meant for her words to hurt that deeply - though she suspected it wasn’t her words that were doing the hurting.

“You know what I can’t stop thinking about?” she asked as if he hadn’t reacted at all. “That fucking Arch of Destiny."

Jaskier laughed, bitter and brittle.

“I was promised my deepest desire but Borch said it will never happen."

“I think I always knew that mine would never be granted,” Jaskier mumbled from where his face was pressed into his arms on the table. “But I didn’t need it shouted at me."

“You know what? Fuck that mage. Let’s go give that lying bastard a piece of our minds."

She grabbed Jaskier by the back of his doublet collar and pulled him to standing. He grabbed his pack and lute and followed her outside. She whispered a locating incantation, then created a portal and pulled Jaskier through.

Suddenly, they were up a mountain, a very different one from the one they had just climbed down. The cold wind seemed to rip right through Jaskier’s inadequate doublet. The arch loomed in front of them, the sight of it making Jaskier shiver more than the cold.

“Welcome back, Yennefer and Jaskier.” They whirled around to see the mage, the Guardian of the Arch, walking up behind them. “You are the first people to ever visit the Arch twice, but since you put a location spell on it last time you were here, I’m not really surprised.” He came to a stop in front of them. “What can I do for you?"

At the sight of him, rage bubbled up in Yennefer. “You lying bastard!” she yelled at him. “You promised us Melitele’s blessing. You told us our wishes would be granted. But the truth has come out. Not just for me, but Jaskier as well. We never had a chance at what our hearts most desire!"

The mage was calm in the face of Yennefer’s rage. Jaskier was impressed because a lesser man would have cowered before her. But he heard her out and then calmly replied. “I did not promise that your wishes would be granted, but rather what your hearts most desire. If you have been prevented from receiving it, it is simply because there is something your heart desires more."

“There’s nothing I want more than this! I’ve been trying for years to be able to have a baby. It was taken from me and I want it back!” Yennefer took all her pain and twisted it to anger.

Jaskier didn’t join Yennefer in railing against the mage, but he felt the same way. There was nothing he wanted more than Geralt. He had lost what he wanted most with no chance of getting it back.

“Peace, Yennefer. Let me console you with this. You are correct that you have not yet received the blessing. Melitele is still working to produce your fate. But I can promise you this: Within two years, your heart’s deepest desire will be granted."

“What about Jaskier?” Yennefer reached back and pulled Jaskier beside her. “What can you say to console him? The one he loves reviled him and cast him away. What blessing is that?"

The mage looked Jaskier in the eye and when he spoke Jaskier felt it in his very soul. “Jaskier, your blessing has already been granted, but it has not been revealed. It is not the place of the Guardian of the Arch to tell you what your heart called out for as you walked through the Arch, but I can promise you, it will be revealed in time.”

The mage looked between them. “Goodbye, Yennefer. Goodbye, Jaskier. You will not come here again. Already your tracking spell has been broken. Any attempt to return to the Arch will end in failure. May the blessings of Melitele bring you happiness.” With that, he turned and walked away.

"Well," Jaskier commented as they looked at the back of the retreating mage, "I think that worked well. We yelled at the mage and got nothing for it."

"Shut up, Jaskier, or I'll leave you here."

"I halfway assumed you'd do that anyway."

"No." She sighed. "Where can I take you?"

"Oxenfurt."

They made it to Oxenfurt where,to Yennefer's amazement, Jaskier was both liked and respected. He went to the headmaster's office and in 20 minutes returned with both a job and a residence.

Walking into his modestly sized professor's quarters, he turned to her, then hesitated.

"I asked for two bedrooms. You're welcome to stay."

"I have better places to stay than Oxenfurt professor housing."

"The offer stands, though. Don't hex me for saying this, but you don't seem like you have an overabundance of friends. Or any, really. And even though I've feared you and resented you, I've never hated you. If you ever need either a friend or just a place to stay, you know where to look."

\---

Despite what the Guardian of the Arch had promised, when Geralt heard of Nilfgaard's march on Cintra, he felt the need to retrieve his child surprise. The urge to find and protect her curled in his gut against his will. But still he followed.

Of course it didn't go well. When had anything ever gone well for him? He was recovering in a farmer's house from a hunt gone wrong after escaping the Cintran prison during the Nilfgaardian's attack when he felt that pull again. Similar but distinctly different to the pull he felt that often led him to Yennefer. He was surprised when relief flooded through him. The Princess was both alive and close.

He found her in the woods. A tiny, war-scarred princess flung herself into his arms and clung to him like he was her one assurance of safety. Geralt knew that their bond had brought them together, but the decision to protect this child would have been made, destiny or no.

Then she looked up at him and spoke two words that cut him through: "who's Yennefer?"

They found Yennefer recovering from Sodden Hill. Her chaos had burned through her, dimming her eyes which were just starting to recover. Geralt apologized and introduced her to Ciri, who would need training for her magic. And so she joined them on their trek to Kaer Morhen, the only place Geralt could guarantee Ciri's safety. A few days into traveling together, one night after Ciri was asleep, Geralt nervously brought up the bar

"Do you know, is Jaskier well?"

"Why would you ask me?" Yennefer asked primly, staring into the fire.

"He left with you by portal outside an inn after the dragon hunt. I haven't seen him since."

"Well, that's hardly my fault, is it, Geralt?" Yennefer snapped.

"Please, just tell me if he's well. I miss him."

Yennefer sighed. "He's safe. He's comfortable and surrounded by people who adore him. But is he well? I couldn't say."

"I'll find him after Ciri is safe. He deserves an apology too." Geralt looked resigned.

Yennefer looked thoughtful. "Do you even know if he wants an apology?"

"He deserves it. It's his choice to accept or not."

Yennefer stood abruptly. She rummage through her bag and returned to the fire with a xenovox. "Don't speak until I tell you to," she told Geralt.

"Jaskier," she spoke into the xenovox.

After a moment, Jaskier's sleepy voice came through. "Yenna?"

"I have a question for you. If Geralt wanted to apologize to you, would you be willing to hear it?"

Jaskier's bitter laugh crackled and pierced Geralt's heart. "If someone offered to show you a unicorn, would you want to see it?"

The point was clear. Unicorns were extinct. Wanting to see a unicorn was an impossible thing. Jaskier felt the same way about hoping for an apology from Geralt.

"Answer the question, Bard," Yennefer scolded with poorly hidden fondness.

"I would, I supposed. But I wouldn't hold my breath for one."

"Well, listen well, then," Yennefer said and tossed the venovox to Geralt, then began to walk away.

"Jaskier?" Geralt asked cautiously

" _Geralt?"_

Geralt's apology was less than Jaskier deserved but better than he expected so he accepted. Yennefer created a portal for him to join them the next morning, and he arrived with only a small pack, a bedroll and his lute. He greeted the princess with a courteous bow that made her giggle, Yennefer with a hug and a peck on the cheek, and Geralt with a firm handshake. It rankled a little, to be greeted so distantly, but Jaskier was with them again and that's all Geralt could ask for.

Two weeks later, while Yennefer and Ciri were training their magic, Geralt and Jaskier took all the clothes to the river to be washed. Geralt watched Jaskier humming pleasantly as scrubbed a particularly difficult stain from a shirt. He looked and noticed he was being watched by the Witcher. "What?"

"I'm glad you're back. It was lonely without you."

Jaskier smiled. "Careful, Witcher, that was almost a compliment."

"Only almost? Let me try again. For the past twenty years, you've made my Path better."

"Are you trying to compliment me? I believe traveling with the princess has made your heart soft."

"Traveling with you made my heart soft. Traveling with Ciri made me brave enough to say it."

Jaskier looked surprised. "Oh." He went back to scrubbing. "Well that certainly is kind of you to say."

Geralt scowled in frustration. He must not have said it clearly. "Jaskier. I love you. I have for years. But I never understood until Ciri, that maybe being loved by a Witcher wouldn't be a curse for a human. Maybe it would be something you could accept."

Jaskier put down his shirt and soap and turned to Geralt. "You're a fool, Witcher, if you think your love wouldn't be my life's greatest blessing. I've wanted nothing more and of course I could accept it. Now get over here, my beloved idiot, and give me a kiss."

\---

They walked into another forgettable tavern in another forgettable town and Jaskier gasped. “I don’t believe it!” He pointed at a man across the room. “It's the Guardian of the Arch!"

Jaskier strode across the room to greet him. “Hello! What are you doing down here? I thought you lived up in that mountain."

“Hello, Jaskier, Yennefer, Geralt, Cirilla,” he greeted, nodding to each of them in turn. “I lived up in that mountain guarding the Arch for ten years, then a brother came to relieve me. At the end of my decade of service I am allowed at last to pass through the Arch and receive Melitele’s blessing. I’m glad to see that you have all finally received your blessings as well."

“I didn’t,” Geralt corrected.

The mage smiled at Cirilla. “You have. As the Guardian, I was forbidden to explain Melitele’s blessings, or what your heart most desired. But I am no longer the Guardian of the Arch of Destiny. I’m just a mage, travelling the world and free to speak as I see it. Tell me, Geralt, what did you wish as you walked through the Arch." When he saw Geralt glance at Ciri, he added "I promise no harm will come from speaking the truth."

“I wished to change my destiny. To free myself from the child surprise I was bound to."

“Yes,” the mage agreed. “And yet here you are with your child surprise in tow. So answer me again. Why did you want to break your bond with this child?"

“I didn’t want her to go through what I did. I also was taken from my family, forced into a life I didn’t choose. I wanted her to be safe and well."

“Tell me, little one,” the mage asked Ciri, “are you safe and well?” When she agreed that she was, he asked “and who has kept you safe and well?"

“Geralt did. And Yennefer. And Jaskier, too. But Geralt was the one who found me. He was the one who brought me to them."

“You see, Geralt? Your deepest desire for her was not that she be unbound from you. It was for her safety and well-being. You never imagined that it could happen while she was bound to you, so you wished her unbound. You wished her to not be forced into this life as you were.” He turned to Ciri. “I’ll tell you now: one day, little one, you will be faced with a choice. You will choose how you live your life. That choice will not be taken from you.”

He turned back to Geralt. “Are you now satisfied? It was not the wish you thought you were making, but your heart’s desire for this child was granted."

“I am satisfied."

“And you, Lady Yennefer? Are you satisfied?

“But my wish was not granted. I wished to bear a child, and I am still barren."

“Why, Lady Yennefer, did you wish to bear a child?"

“I wanted one."

“Don’t fear to speak openly, Yennefer. No one here will think less of you for honesty."

Yennefer scowled and glanced around the table, but still answered. “I wanted to be loved. Fully. I wanted to be important to someone. I wanted someone I could love completely. I wanted what had been taken from me and I wanted my choice back."

“If that is your heart’s deepest desire, would you say it has been granted?"

Yennefer looked around the table again. “Yes,” she answered slowly. She looked at Jaskier, “I am loved,” at Geralt, “I am important to someone,” and at Ciri, “and I am able to love completely. When Geralt came to me and introduced Ciri, I had a choice, and I made it freely. Melitele has granted me my heart’s deepest desire."

Jaskier grinned. “I’m glad we got that all sorted."

“What about you, Jaskier?” Ciri asked. “Did you not go through the Arch?"

“I did. But I know what my wish was, and I know it has been granted."

“How do you know?” Ciri asked, eyes wide

“Not long before Geralt found you, the three of us climbed a mountain to hunt a dragon together.”

Ciri nodded. She had heard vague things about this dragon hunt.

“At the top of the mountain,” Jaskier continued, “we, ah, well, we had a bit of a fight. When we got back down, Yennefer and I mentioned how neither of our wishes came true. So she portaled us back to the Arch. He told us that Yenna’s wish was still in progress but would be granted soon, and that mine had already been granted and I just didn’t know about it yet. After Geralt told me he loved me, I understood. He had loved me, but I didn’t know. So my wish has been granted."

Jaskier smiled at Ciri and the mage looked pained and embarrassed. “That’s a beautiful story, and quite romantic, but it isn’t true. That’s not the blessing Melitele gave you."

“It’s not?”

“Geralt loves you of his own volition, uncompelled by goddess, magic, or destiny. Like I told you, his choice was not taken from him.

“Then what is my blessing?” Jaskier asked, baffled.

“Do you remember why you passed through?"

“You told me I couldn’t go around, Jaskier answered slowly. "I could only go through or turn back."

“You didn’t turn back, though. You went through,” the mage prompted.

“Well, yes. Geralt and Yennefer had already gone through. I didn’t want them to leave me behind."

“And that is your blessing. Geralt and Yennefer will live more years than any human man could ever expect to. But they will not leave you behind. What you wanted more than anything, so much you would walk through an Arch you feared, was to not be parted from him. Melitele has given you years to walk beside the ones you love."

“I’m sorry. What?”

“Your life has been extended. You will live as long as he does. You will never be forced to stay behind with aching joints and feeble body while he walks the path alone."

Geralt crushed Jaskier into a hug and the mage slipped away while the table celebrated the granting of their heart's desires.

\----

High up a mountain, near a rocky trail next to snow that never melts, lives the Guardian of the Arch of Destiny, waiting to guide travelers to Melitele's blessing


End file.
